Splitting operation



May 1, 1945 R.- A. RUEDEBUSH SPLITTING OPERATION Filed June 15, 1944 Produc t; on

of Y Untanrzea' Hides Produotzon 01 Leather An fzczmple of Conventional Practice somxmsnixngugvx Other Steps Usually Added for Specific Products An fxczmple of The Improved Practice Con we 22 tion al Smoothing Freezing Spliznh g Shauzng Sorting Coloring Corresponding '0 Steps /4- /9 As [/2 Conventional Other Steps Usually Specz'f'zb Products Practice Added For Inventor Richard A. Ruedebqsh By his Attorney Patented May 1, 1945 ltichard A. Ruedebush, BelmonflMass 'assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Fleming ton, N.,J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 15, 1.944,Serial No. 540,530

10 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of treating bothtanned and untanned hides and skins toproduce splits or hides and skins of uniform thickness. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of treating hides and skins which involves the steps of soaking'and unhairing a hide or a" skin, smoothing it out with retention of water, freezing it while smooth, and then splitting and/or shaving it while frozen before other steps, which are conventional, are used toproduce finished leather. It is to be 'understood'that the method when carried out is not limited to any number or sequence of steps preliminary to the Smoothing out step 'or subsequent to the shaving step and that the tanning step, although usually and preferably introduced before the freezing step, may be undertaken at a later stage. The object of the invention is to provide an easily controlled and improved method for splitting and/0r shaving hides and skins uniformly with the elimination of the customary use and have been subjected to other preliminary steps such as liming, hating and tanning, is usually split and/or shaved before being converted into finished leather. The operations of splitting and shaving cannot be performed on leather that is soaking wet from the preliminary operations and it therefore becomes necessary to wring or press the excess water out of the leather. The conventional wringing operation is beset with several difficulties. wringer is slow as time must be allowed for the water to exude from the hide. If the wringer speed is increased, the rollers will merely pass over the water leaving the hides substantially as wet as before wringing. The time involved in the wringing operation as well as the skill necessary bring about an appreciable cost for labor. It is also recognized that the cost of mechanical maintenance of a wringer is high,particularly In the first place, the action of a as the wringer felt sleeves must be periodically 55 replaced.

wringer and these wrinkles necessitate their removal by adding two more operations-puttingout and shanking. Also, as'it is difficult'to uniformly exert pressure and remove water from leather, there is a distincfltendency toward a condition of the leather which promotes subsequent uneven splitting. Still another difficulty has been commonly encountered and that is'that 'hides'after passing through a wringer, are usually drier than necessary and that even'if they are perfectly wrung out, the usualprccedure in a tannery often requires the wrung leather" to be held on the tanning floor for a considerable period of time during which the edges become dried out, necessitating wetting back. This difficulty is especially acute in the summer 'rnonths. The'pos sibility bf dry, spots developing and the difliculty of Wetting back uniformly again bring about a condition which will contribute to nonuniformity of splitting as well as increase the possibility of hide loss because of tearing. After splitting, the leather. must still be maintained in a uniform condition in so fares water content is concerned if the subsequent use of dyes is to result in even coloring and high grades of leather. Despite the difliculties of wringing leathersfthe use of Wringers is preferred to pressesfor various reasons when conventional practicesn are used. When a press is used, the. hides must be carefully folded to make the pressure uniform.

A number of folded hides is piled up on the bed of the press and pressure is slowly increased to permit time for the water to exude without causing damage. After pressing, thehides aretumbled to remove creases and thiscombinationof od can be used in the case of vegetable tanned leathers but is most useful in producing chrome tanned leathers. Both columns of the drawing may be said to apply in the case of either vege-f table or chrome tanned hides. The use of the method is not limited to a time after the tanning operation, as specifically illustrated in the Another important difliculty is that wrinkles in the leather are produced by the I and with retention of much of the water. After 3. In a method of producing a chrome tanned hide following such preliminary steps as soaking, unhairing, and chrome tanning, the steps of smoothing the tanned hide with retention of water, freezing it while smooth, splitting and shaving it before substantial thawing sets in, such steps being preparatory to subsequent steps nec- .essary to produce finishedchrome tanned leather.

4. In a method of 'ztreating' hides following such preliminary steps as soaking andunhairing,

.. the steps of horsing up the hides, smoothing each hide individually, freezing it with retention of tanning, and preliminary to freezing, the hides may be horsed up forconvenience in timing the V operations. The hides are thenfrozen individ ually while smooth .and, after freezing, the hides are not stacked on each other but it is prefer P able to pass each hide directly through. the splitting and/or shaving steps, and by the time an individual hide has reached the coloring step it has thawed out sufficiently for the latter operation. Splitting and/or shaving hides while frozen' or semifrozen promotes and assures unihumanityof results and at. the same time the operator has an effective, and easy control. t

It should be understood that the splitting. op-

eration may be carried out with the type of machines now On the market and that such a machine may be either a belt knife, a reciprocating knife or a fixedknife machine, the main point being that the machine must be so constructedthat the frozen splits are not unduly bent- Whilepassing through the splitting machine. It is obvious that thin. splits are able to withstand more bending than thicker splits without damage.

Some thawing. may have taken place when the shaving operation i reached and this. will then permit more bending of the splits than would be advisable in the splitting mlachine. Conventional. type shaving machines can be used for the shaving operation, again with increased uniformity and'ease of control. Some hides and skins may be shaved without splitting and advantages of the present method are realized in such a case.

After'the splitting. and/or shaving operations, such conventional steps are then carried out which may be deemed necessary to produce a particularproduct desired.

Having described 'my invention, what .I claim as. new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: I c

1. In a method of treating a hidefollowing such preliminary steps as soaking and-unhairing, the steps' of smoothing the hide with retention of'water, freezing it while smooth, and splitting andishaving it before substantial thawing sets in, such steps being preparatory to subsequent steps necessary to produce leather.

2. Intermediate steps in treating a' hide to produce leather 1 comprising soaking, unhairing,

smoothing with retention of water, freezing it while smooth, and splitting and shaving before substantialthawing sets in.

water while smooth, splitting and shaving it be fore substantial thawing sets in, and undertaki'ngsubsequent. steps on the hides necessary to produce leather). 7

5. In' a method of treating a hide following such: preliminary steps as soaking and unhairing, the .steps of smoothing the hide with retention of water, freezing it while smooth, splitting and shaving it at a temperature which inhibits ap- -preciable thawing, such steps being. preparatory to subsequent steps necessary to produceleather.

6. In a method. of treating a'hide following such preliminary steps as soaking andunhairing, the steps of smoothingthe hide with retention of water, freezing. it while smooth, and subsequentlysplitting-the frozen hide before substantialthawing sets in. Y

'7. In a method of treating ahide following such preliminary steps as soaking and'unhairing,

the. steps of smoothing thehide with retention of. water,.-freezing it. while smooth, immediately splitting the frozen. hide and directly shaving it before substantial thawing sets: in, such. steps being preparatory to subsequent steps necessary to produce leather,

8. Ina method of treating preliminary steps as soaking and unha'iring, the steps of horsingup the hides and then passing each hide. directly through. thesteps of smooth-' ing with retention of water, freezing. eachhide while. smooth, splitting and shaving. before substantial thawing sets in, such steps being. preparatory to subsequent steps necessary to produce leather. I

9. In a method of treating a hide to produce leather, following "the preliminary steps. such as 'soaking, unhairing and tanning, the intermediate steps 'of smoothingthe hide with retention. of water, freezing the hide whilev smooth, and then splitting the hide beforei substantial thawing sets in, such steps being preparatory for subsequent steps such as coloring and drying.

10. In a method of treating a hide to produce leather, following the preliminary steps suchas soaking; unhairing and tanning the intermediatesteps of smoothing the hide with retention of water, freezing the smoothed hide and then shaving the hide before substantial thawing: sets in, such steps being preparatory for subsequent steps such as coloring and drying.

RICHARD A; 'RUEDEBUSH.

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